Milind and the tail wag long enough to prevent innings loss, Mumbai romp home

All-rounder C V Milind spared Hyderabad the dishonor of an innings loss but that was all which could be achieved after the disaster of a game against Mumbai in their Ranji Trophy sixth round match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday.

Mumbai romped to a nine-wicket victory and consolidated their position at the top of Elite Group D. The visitors now have 30 points from six games, while Hyderabad remain at the fifth position with 13 points.

Trailing by 127 runs at close of play on the penultimate day, Hyderabad were looking down the barrel. However, Milind shepherded the tail admirably to prevent an innings loss. Hyderabad made 302 in their second innings, leaving Mumbai with the task of getting 10 runs for an outright win, which they did by scoring 12 for one.

Resuming at their overnight score of 166 for seven, Hyderabad batters Milind, who resumed at 30, and new man and debutant Nitin Sai Yadav kept the Mumbai bowlers at bay.

It was an enormous task ahead for them, but the duo stood their ground and were unfazed by the immense pressure applied by the Mumbai bowlers. They went about their task ball-by-ball and displayed admirable courage to hold their nerve and bat on under a very trying situation.

Milind and Nitin added 69, the highest of the innings, for the eighth wicket before Nitin was snapped up by Suved Parkar off a Musheer Khan delivery. The debutant made a solid 57-ball 32 with six boundaries.

Hyderabad skipper Mohd Siraj saved the blushes for his team with a 61-run ninth-wicket partnership with CV Milind

Hyderabad were still not out of the woods but skipper Mohd Siraj came out to play a seasoned knock. With Milind in tow, Siraj continued with the defiance. The duo added 61 to the total and thereby prevented an innings loss.

Milind notches up sixth half-century with heroic 85

Siraj fell for a 36-ball 32 which contained five fours and a six. Milind, in trying to push the score, was the last man to fall after making a face-saving 85, which was his sixth half-century in First-class cricket, for Hyderabad. His runs came off 128 balls and contained 12 fours and two sixes. His knock, despite the outcome of the match, was indeed a heroic one considering how the Hyderabad batters fared in the game.

Milind and the Hyderabad tail wagged for 30.2 overs and made Mumbai bat again. Left-arm spinner Musheer Khan, younger brother of double centurion Sarfaraz Khan, finished with figures of five for 79, while mediumpacer Mohit Avasthi took three for 47.

The visitors lost opener Akhil Herwadkar when he was stumped by Rahul Radesh off Nitin Sai Yadav for 4. However, Akash Anand (5) and Himanshu Singh (1) finished the formalities as Mumbai made 12 for one.

Who is to be blamed for the fiasco?

With the game done and dusted, as expected, it is time for the team, the selectors and administrators to sit down and analyse where things went wrong. The Hyderabad batters, barring G Rahul Singh, K Himateja, Milind and Siraj, did little on the field. They just caved into the pressure. Openers M Abhirath Reddy and P Aman Rao, whose debut game turned into a big disappointment, failed to give the side a good start. Rohit Rayudu and Rahul Radish too were off-color in this game.

P Nitish Reddy looked very uncomfortable as in the previous game against Jammu & Kashmir. He got 3 and 0 against J & K and in this game made 6 and 0. Will the selectors take the blame for the fiasco?

The fielding too was not up to First-class standards with a couple of catches, at crucial junctures, going down.

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Will there be some course correction or will things just go on like this? Will the selectors at least no follow the horses for courses approach? Why pick a batter who opens the innings for his team when there are middle-order batters available, especially those who have done well in the leagues over the years?

Why are players who have scored heavily in league cricket not given a chance is the question that the selectors and administrators have to answer?

Accountability should begin with the administrators and selectors first and then the players. Axing a few players for the fiasco does not absolve those who make the decisions regarding the squad composition.

SCOREBOARD

Mumbai (1st Innings) 560

Hyderabad (1st Innings): 267

Hyderabad (2nd innings, following on): P Aman Rao b Tarmale 13, M Abhirath Reddy b Musheer 20, G Rahul Singh c Sarfaraz b Musheer 33, K Rohit Rayudu c Herwadkar b Avasthi 7, Himateja K c Akash b Avasthi 43, Rahul Radesh c & b Avasthi 2, P Nitish Reddy c Avasthi b Musheer 0, CV Milind c Himanshu b Musheer 85, Nitin Sai Yadav c S Parkar b Musheeer 32, Mohd Siraj b Tarmale 32, Rakshan Readdi (not out) 0; Extras: (NB3, W2, B13, LB17) 35. Total: (All out in 69.5 overs) 166.

Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-70, 3-73, 4-102, 5-106, 6-111, 7-166, 8-235, 9-296.

Bowling: Tushar Deshpande 11-1-39-0, Onkar Tarmale 11-1-48-2, Mohit Avasthi 9-2-47-3, Himanshu Singh 13-1-49-0, Musheer Khan 22.5-4-79-5, A Herwadkar 3-0-10-0.

Mumbai (2nd innings): Akhil Herwadkar st Radesh b Nitin 4, Akash Anand (not out) 5, Himanshu Singh (not out) 1. Total: (For one wicket in 3.2 overs) 12.

Fall of wicket: 1-4.

Bowling: Nitin Sai Yadav 2-0-6-1, Himateja K 1.2-1-4-0.